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Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET's key takeaways Pinterest users can now control how much AI content they see. Users had complained about AI on the app. AI-generated content is multiplying across the internet. Pinterest is pulling back on its AI features with the announcement of new gen AI controls. The company is rolling out a tuner for its app that can tweak how much AI content users see in their feed. Also: You're reading more AI-generated content than you think "At Pinterest, we've heard from our users: they want the creativity and inspiration they love, with the right mix of human and AI-generated content," Pinterest wrote in the press release Thursday. How it works Pinterest lists beauty, art, fashion, and home decor as a few categories where AI-generated content proliferates. Users can go into settings, click "refine your recommendations," and manage just how much AI content they see on certain pins. AI modification is one way the company is listening to its users to give them further control over AI-generated content. As more AI-generated content -- also known as synthetic media -- comes across the app and the internet at large, companies are fine-tuning how they deploy the technology within their products. Also: I found 5 AI content detectors that can correctly identify AI text 100% of the time The tuner is now available across Android and desktop systems, with iOS rollout following shortly. Reactions to AI-generated content Last year and earlier this year, Pinterest rolled out a slate of AI-powered products, including a Performance+ campaign for advertisers on the platform, an AI-powered visual search feature that turns inspiration into a buying opportunity, and creator tools like personalized background generation, among other features intended to increase performance and shopping on the app. Also: AI is ruining Pinterest. Here's why it's such a big problem In response, Pinterest users took to Reddit to complain about the onslaught of AI content on the app. "I stopped using Pinterest because 80% of the results are AI-generated images," one user wrote in a thread. Want more stories about AI? Sign up for our AI Leaderboard newsletter. AI is infiltrating every application, industry, and field. While it excels at writing code, answering simple queries, and task managing, there are certain tasks it can't get right: ones that require an embodied touch. People primarily use Pinterest to get inspiration for crafts, hobbies, fashion, and more -- activities humans participate in using their hands, that require real-world context and idiosyncratic creativity. The inspiration users get on Pinterest often helps them create physical objects -- whether that's a recipe, a decoration, or a woven garment made from a knitting pattern. Users pin everything from wedding inspiration to room redesign ideas. This creativity users seek out is innately human, which could explain Pinterest users' staunch reaction to the bombardment of AI on the app. Also: AI scams have infiltrated the knitting and crochet world - why it matters for everyone Users' hesitancy to adopt Pinterest's AI highlights that some applications' utility relies on human-generated content despite the company's mission to keep up with AI development.
